June 2016 Babies

Another language post...

I feel like language is all over the place at this age and I know my son falls in the normal range but I can't help but worry sometimes. Any other moms going through this?

My son turned 16 months yesterday and he says mama, dada, hi, bye, hot, and hmm. I know hmm isn't a word but he says it in the right context. Like if you ask him, "where's teddy?" he'll go "hmmm" while he looks for him. So I'm counting it as a word :) Honestly, he's a quiet guy. He babbles and he answers me with what sounds like "yeah" when I ask him a question (i.e. "did you have fun with Grandma today?") and he has been pointing at anything and everything for at least 6 months now so I know that other words are coming but he is definitely not talking as much as I thought he would be by now. Our doctor wasn't concerned at his 15 month checkup because he understands everything and he shares with us, shows us things, follows simple requests, is extremely interactive, learns things after being shown only once, plays pretend, etc. So I know it's all clicking in that cute little brain of his but I would like to see some more language at this point, for sure. I'm hoping that he has a big jump from 16-18 months. If not, I'll ask for an eval at his 18 month checkup.

Update: we think he might be starting to say "that' when he points at things but it's very infrequent.

We’ve got about a dozen words now but they aren’t at all consistent. The wide range of “normal” will narrow eventually, but not for a while! My niece is 2 1/2 and while she has a large vocabulary, she still speaks mostly in single words or two word phrases, while another kid I know who is a few months younger will say sentences like “I’m sorry, daddy” with correct grammar and everything. So while it’s going to even out eventually, it might take a while (or your kid might have a sudden language explosion, because who knows?). I hear you on the worrying, though! I know there’s no reason to worry but it’s still always at the back of my mind.

No words here. Though she does sign more - which means everything from more to get me to I'm hungry. She does point infrequently, and follows some 'commands.'

I downloaded the asq for 16 month olds, my daughter is only in the grey area. Four words besides mama and dada would probably put your I'm in the no need to worry. (Just type asq 16 month old, and use the last page to score.)

My daughter only say few words and just babbles all the time, she understands and pick up comprehension easily but just lazy to speak. Also because I speak bilingual to her.. but for my own peace of mind, I already scheduled early intervention for her and they supposed to call me next week. I cant just always be paraniod. I need to know that my daughter is fine. I need to hear it so I can stop beating myself for it. Everyday, I am blaming myself thinking I cause her speech delay, I speak two language to her, I let her watch TV multiple times a day since 9 months old... all this things that I just keep on blaming myself for. It sucks feeling this way.

My pedi said it's more about level of communication as opposed to real words. LO signs, points, and babbles so at 15 months pedi wasn't worried that she only says 2 or 3 words consistently. And she told me the things that she does say (like wahhthaa for what's that & tee for kitty) "count" as words, even if I'm the only one that understands.

It sounds like he is on track. It also sounds like he’s learning fast and interacting in other ways.

My LO is saying a few words now! No, Mama, Dada (though sometimes calls him Mama too). And this morning she saw a dog on the TV and was repeatedly trying to say dog but didn’t quite get there. “Gog” was more like it!

My daughter is quite verbal. It seemed to really explode around 13 months for her. That being said, she didn't walk until 14.5 months. Her cousin, on the other hand, is 2 months older and she very much exceeds his language skills. However, He walked right at 9 months. I've always heard that children's brains tend to focus on one thing at a time. At least that is what I continued telling myself as I sat comparing my daughter to her cousin, hoping she would walk some day!! It will all even out and honestly I wouldn't start worrying until 2! Language can seem quite dormant until all of the sudden it's not!

Being a tri- lingual household language is something that’s very interesting. Our dr informed us that we shouldn’t expect the twins to be speaking before they’re two. Their speaking is very limited but we’re not too worried.

I definitely agree! My son was crawling just before 5 months old and walking at 10 months old. He's always been focused on the physical development milestones. But I know a 17 month old who is only just starting to walk and says a ton of words.

My pediatrician said she only expects 4 words and no phrases at this stage. My son is a total talker, but she said it would be totally normal if he wasn't at this age. She said 2 is when they're more concerned with talking

I honestly wouldn't worry one bit, sounds like your lil one is on track. Ours only says mama, dada, or Hi but understands things we ask or tell her. She loves to point and knows names of things when we ask her where's this or that. Our oldest who is 11 now was late to talking and didn't say a single word till she was 2 was tested for hearing loss, and autism.. it was crazy how they stress that by a certain month your child "should say a certain # of words" because every child is different and does stuff on their own time. I knew she could hear me because she followed direction but the doctors tried to make me worry and stress. She is a straight A student and in 6th grade now and absolutely nothing is or was wrong, she spoke when she was ready! Our 16 month old is learning both english and armenian and understands both which is not easy but like I said only says a few words and the rest is baby talk.

I am so excited to see that you use the ASQ!!! I am an early education professional and I always recommend to parents to use the ASQ themselves to help them stay informed on their little one's development. It is such a great tool and very user friendly. Way to go momma!!!

My 4 year old still loves to do them. This last month she helped me do the questionnaire with her 16 month old little brother.

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